On Umpiring Baseball

I love the game of baseball - have loved it since I was a little kid in New York screaming at the TV for my beloved Yankees.
       I played baseball, my son Steven has played baseball, we both now umpire baseball.
       Steven and I have umpired well over 100 games this season - we did FIVE in one day last weekend alone. So you can imagine we have some funny stories about people and what happens in the midst of games.

       Winston the catcher.

       Here is a little thing that happened the other day that just cracked me up. Before the game began the catcher for the team going on the field came up to me (I was umpiring behind the plate so would be standing behind him for every pitch in the next two hours). The boy is 11 or 12 years old. He sticks out his hand to shake my hand and says in a serious pre-puberty alto, "Hello Mister Umpire. My name is Winston and I am here to protect you from the ball!"
       I chuckled to myself, shook Winston's hand, and thought to myself, "Now that boy has some healthy self-esteem!"
       Late in the game when there was a foul ball and it hit me in the thigh (one of the few places on an umpire's body which is NOT protected), Winston apologized profusely to me. I told him it was not his fault and there is nothing you can do when a ball coming that fast gets hit by a bat and changes direction. Winston's response was great:
       "Oh ya, I guess you are right!" And he bent down to catch the next pitch.